Known methods of thermally processing (annealing and sintering, for example) functional materials must generally be performed at elevated temperatures and take several hours, thus a substrate that supports a functional material must be capable of withstanding the requisite processing environment. In order to advance the technology of thin-film and nanoparticle devices, more attractive substrates that are light-weight and flexible must be considered. In many cases, substrates that would fulfill such criterion are temperature-sensitive and are not able to withstand the processing environment of a conventional furnace. Such temperature-sensitive substrates—for example, low melting point, light-weight metals and flexible polymers, cannot withstand the high temperatures necessary for processing the thin-film. Moreover, there is a need for larger area processing and shorter processing times than that available with conventional processes.
It is helpful to review some of the prior work relating to thermal processing of functional materials. The entire disclosure of each of the following U.S. patents and patent applications is incorporated herein by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,490 issued on Jun. 26, 1990 to Camm, et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,388[M1] issued on Jan. 16, 2001 to Sikka, et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,826[M2] issued on Dec. 16, 2003 to Blue, et al.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20010036219 published on Nov. 1, 2001 to Camm, et al.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20020067918 published on Jun. 6, 2002 to Camm, et al.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20020102098 published on Aug. 1, 2002 to Camm, et al.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20030206732 published on Nov. 6, 2003 to Camm, et al.